Teen Sent Home from School Over Short Dress; Mom Wears It to Graduation

byKaitlin StanfordJun 17, 2014

Like most graduating seniors, Violet Burkhart was psyched to be heading off to her very last day of high school last week. She probably imagined a somewhat emotional day, walking through the halls for the last time, clearing out her locker and reminiscing on the last four years. But when she walked into Central Davidson High School that morning, her last day of school suddenly became memorable for a very different reason.

Just as Violet passed teachers in the hallway, she was immediately taken aside and told that her dress was too short. This was news to her, considering she'd already worn it a handful of times to school before, and without a hitch. But that didn't stop her teachers from taking out a ruler and actually measuring her hem in the hallway (yes, right in front of her classmates). The verdict? It was deemed a half-inch too short, and Violet was told to go home immediately and change.

Needless to say, it was all pretty humiliating. So when she returned home later in tears, Violet immediately told her mom, Amy Redwine, everything that had happened. In short, mom was PO'd. Not so much because of the dress code, but because of the way her teachers handled the whole thing.

But instead of marching into her daughter's school on the very last day, or ringing up the principal with angry words, she settled on a different tactic: She would wear the dress herself a few days later — to Violet's graduation, no less.

“If I thought this dress was inappropriate, I would have never allowed her to wear the dress,” Violet's mom later told local reporters. “I’m going to wear it in front of everybody and be proud just like she should have been able to on her last day.”

So on Saturday, June 14, Mom waltzed into the graduation ceremonies at Central Davidson High School, looking pretty fierce:

... And guess what? No one told her to leave.

Props to Mom on handling the whole thing with dignity. (And for still being able to fit into her teenage daughter's clothes.)